Method and apparatus for measuring lung density by Compton backscattering

摘要

The density of the lung of a patient suffering from pulmonary edema is monitored by irradiating the lung by a single collimated beam of monochromatic photons and measuring the energies of photons Compton backscattered from the lung by a single high-resolution, high-purity germanium detector. A compact system geometry and a unique data extraction scheme are utilized to monimize systematic errors due to the presence of the chestwall and multiple scattering.